Improvement in bottle-filling machines



C. A. GREGORY.

improvement in Bottle-Filling Machines. No. 130,126, Patented Au g. 6,1872.

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CHARLES ALEXANDER GREGORY, OF QUEBEC, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN'BOTTLE-FILLING MACHINES.

- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 130,126, dated August 6, 1872.

SPECIFICATION.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ALEXANDER GREGORY, of the city of Quebec, in the dis-,

trict of Quebec, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented new and useful Improvements on the Machines or Apparatus used for Filling Bottles, and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, where- Figure 1 represents an elevation of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 represents a section of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a detail. Fig. 4 represents an elevation of a shortening-washer for using with small bottles or those with short necks. Fig. 5 represents a side elevation of a second modification. Fig. 6 represents an end elevation of front of Fig. 5.

This invention has reference to improvements on bottle-filling apparatus, to adapt them better for that purpose and render the same machine equally serviceable for filling large or small bottles, and also providing a thimble by which a single cylindrical valve may be made serviceable in filling bottles with long or short necks. My invention also includes a new form of bottle-filler of a cheaper and equally efficient nature. 7

In the drawing hereunto annexed, made to a scale of about one-half full size, similar letters of reference indicate'like parts.

Letter a is a cylindrical valve, of the form now in use, and is constructed in the following manner: On any suitable round pipe, a a small cylinder, a is fitted, so that it can slide freely up and down, but without play or leaving any material space between the two. The lower end of the pipe at is formed into a closed end, a and a screwed extension, a On this extension isplaced an India rubber, a secured and held in place by a screwed nut or washer, a In the side of a, just above a an opening, a", is cut. The end of the cylinder a is made fair to rest upon a and thereby form a tight joint with it, so that when the cylinder is pressed down by the spiral spring a the flow from the opening a is stopped, the top of the cylinder being provided with a flange for the purpose of connecting with the neck of the bottle to be filled, as represented in ed expressly for short bottles.

Fig. 3. To prevent any leak at the top of the cylinder an Indiarubber washer, a is provided, and on the top of this is placed a metal washer, a, for the end of the spiral spring a? to rest upon. Near the top of the pipe a is a flange, a against which the other end of the spiral spring presses, and above this flange a the pipe terminates in any suitable screwed end for attachment.

I do not seek to claim any invention in the whole of the parts as above described; but, as their arrangement is somewhat peculiar, I have described them, and they will be known for shortness, in the remainder of this specification, by the name of the cylinder-valve a.

My improvement consists as follows: It is evident that to open the valve a the neck of the bottle must come in contact with the flange a", and if the bottle is a very short one its bottom may come in contact with the extremity a before this can take place, and, therefore, it is necessary to have a valve construct- My improvement in this respect is shown in Fig. 4. At a far less cost than that of providing a second valve, I construct a thimble, d, consisting of a short cylinder, (1, of any suitable length, made to slip freely upon the cylinder a this is provided with a flange, e, at its bottom end, so that the bottle-neck has only to be entered a sufficient distance to come in contact with the flange e to operate the valve. To cause the cylinder d to retain its place on a without extra care in fitting, I cut a slot, 6 (one or more,) and bend the extremities e inward to act as springs to clasp the cylinder M. The third part of my invention consists in arranging the above apparatus with the improvements I have made and described in this specification in such a manner that they may be at once applied to the cask or barrel containing the fluid to be bottled, instead of having to first draw them off into the tank 0, exposing them to the atmosphere, which is very detrimental to many fluids, such as those of a spirituous nature. For this purpose I have arranged the invention as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Here f is an ordinary barrel-cock provided with the usual strainer g at its inner end, while its other end is terminated in the form of an ordinary screwed male part, h, of a union joint this is driven into the taphole in the cask, care being taken so that when the matrical part h is screwed in place the pipes i shall be horizontal. In the bottom of the matrical part h of the union joint I place a small fine strainer, 70, indicated by two dotted lines. h terminates in a hollow head, is; to this are attached the two pipes i, and to these pipes the valves a are secured. The

driveninto the barrel with a wooden mallet to prevent damaging it. The strainer 70 is then put in place, and the head 70 screwed on. The cock inf may then be set to regulate the flow of the fluid, and by means of the valves to two bottles maybe filled at atime, or one, as desired. If the strainer or becomes choked, the cock in f may be shut, the head k taken off, the strainer cleaned, and again replaced. This form of the invention also enables it to be used as a common faucet by taking ofl one of the valves a and operating with the cock f and the pipe Q3, from which the valve has been removed, the valve a remaining in place, serving to prevent any escape from the other pipe 6.

' Having now described my invention, what I claim is as follows:

1. The changeable thimble d, in combination with cylinder 0?, substantially as described.

2. The cock f, union joint h 72/, head 70, strainer 70, and pipes i, in combination with the valve a, as and for the purposes set forth.

Quebec, 26th day of February, A. D. 1872.

CHARLES ALEXANDER GREGORY. Witnesses:

JosEPH ARGHER, Jr., JosEPH TAILnoND. 

